Baptist minister Calvin Philleo married Prudence Crandall shortly after her attempt in 1833 to introduce a multiracial school for girls to Canterbury, Conn. After Crandall's plans had been ruined by a combination of legal challenges brought by members of the community and violent mob action, the Philleos abandoned the school and state, settling successively in Providence, R.I., New York State, Illinois, and, finally, Kansas.

Calvin Philleo's son by a previous marriage, Calvin W. Philleo, left college at 19 and went to sea where he experienced "much more of adventure and all sorts of life than is usual." By age 25, he had settled in Suffield, Conn., where he studied law with C. F. Cleveland (Democratic Gov. of Connecticut in 1842-43 and later congressman) and George S. Catlin (another congressman). Philleo became an ardent Free Soil Democrat, though he noted that he loved his "profession and its practice far better than ... politics and partizan strife," and he worked closely with the party during the state elections of 1848 through 1852, at one point acting as a Democratic elector and member of the state Democratic Committee. In November, 1849, Philleo married Elizabeth P. Norton, daughter of Daniel W. Norton of Suffield, Conn. The match was a good one for an aspiring politician and lawyer, as his father-in-law was prominent and active in local affairs. Norton's interests included banking, insurance, and textile mills, and he served the community of Suffield variously as Justice of the Peace and as board Member of the Second School Society.

Philleo's literary career was gaining momentum when he died prematurely at 36. He had already published a well-received novel, Twice Married (N.Y.: Dix & Edwards, 1855), and had had stories accepted at Graham's, Putnam's Monthly, the Atlantic Monthly, and other important literary magazines. His legal practice, too, prospered in the early 1850's, as he specialized in representing the claims of descendants of Revolutionary War veterans under the revised pension acts of 1838 and 1855. Philleo's practice was distinguished by his unusual method of accepting a fee based upon the percentage of the claim recovered, admitting no fee if the application were unsuccessful.

Following Calvin W. Philleo's death in 1858, following a severe illness, his widow, Elizabeth, appears to have spent time traveling between the homes of relatives in Ohio, Boston, and Illinois. She may have moved permanently to Dayton, Ohio, during or immediately following the Civil War.

Scope and contents:

There are four main areas of interest in the Philleo-Norton Papers. First are the letters of Calvin W. Philleo, written during the time that he was establishing his law practice in Suffield, launching into a successful literary career, and as he was involved with Free Soil state politics. Philleo's personal and political letters suggest that his interests ran well beyond the dull confines of his life as an attorney. His letters from 1848-1850 provide interesting commentary on Connecticut and national politics, and particularly on the Free Soil faction of the Democratic Party. The letters of C. F. Cleveland (who complains of the power of slave-interests in Connecticut), and congressmen Niles, Burnham, and Catlin provide insight into antebellum electoral politics in the state. Philleo's correspondence with editors at Graham's and Harper's reveals another side to his personality, the literary side, and provides a brief, curious look into the attitudes of an aspiring writer forced to deal with the realities of life as an attorney. Also of interest, Philleo wrote a curious, humorous letter to his brother-in-law, John, who had just gained employment on the railroad in Canada, comparing the "free" life of a railroad worker with the drudgery of law.

Secondly, Philleo's legal work preparing and representing pension claims for the widows and children of Revolutionary War veterans is well represented in the collection. The successful pension applications of the children of Nathaniel Pomroy and Jehiel Spencer are present and are apparently nearly complete (in copy). Further, there are printed items and miscellaneous correspondence, mostly with Commissioner of Pensions, L. P. Waldo, relating to pension applications, and including instruction sheets for completing applications, a pamphlet containing rules for applying for bounty land, and a sheet indicating materials required for submission to limit fraudulent applications. Photocopies of the Pomroy and Spencer applications as submitted to the Pension Office are included.

Thirdly, the legal documents entered in the suit of Sheldon et al. v. the Second School Society, Suffield, are an intriguing record of a local tax revolt in 1852. Hezekiah Sheldon and his co-petitioners to the court objected strenuously to the School Society's plans to build a new school building using tax money collected locally.

Finally, the letters of Elizabeth Philleo and her sisters contain occasional comments of general interest regarding the lives of young women during the Civil War. Lucy Norton's reactions to the defeat at Bull Run in 1861, and the news that Elizabeth relays of a family friend serving as an officer in the 55th Massachusetts (Colored) Regiment are particularly noteworthy, but it is also interesting to reconstruct the series of lectures, panoramas, and social gatherings Elizabeth attended in Connecticut and Boston during the war. There are two letters of Calvin Philleo, Sr., and Prudence Crandall Philleo, one of which, written in 1870, contains some brief reflections on the power of religious conviction in Calvin's life, from the time he was involved in revivals in New York State through his move to Illinois.

The small size of the collection will limit the utility of this collection for most researchers. While individual letters are often very interesting, and the outlines of personalities such as Calvin W. Philleo's begin to emerge, the collection is generally quite thin.

M-24662a11
cat. 10/92 rsc

Subject index to the Philleo-Norton Family Papers

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